Lacing guide



8- 13, 1963 c. G. GILMORE 3,396,442

LACING GUIDE Filed Dec. 19, 1966 United States Patent O 3,396,442 LACLNGGUIDE Charles G. Gilmore, Meadville, Pa., 'assignor to FMC Corporation,Philadelphia, Pa., :1 corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 19, 1966, Ser.No. 602,793 6 Claims. (Cl. 28-1) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In a systemwherein a running yarn strand is sub jected to treatment in a tube-likepassageway which has a lacing slot communicating therewith, guides areprovided for assuring that the yarn is laced through the lacing slot andthe passageway at the beginning of a run and for causing the yarn tore-enter the passageway should it be accidently displaced therefromduring a run.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the invention The inventionrelates to the textile field and particularly to the manufacture ofyarn, especially synthetic yarn. More particularly the invention relatesto a yarn treating system which includes an apparatus having a tube-likepassageway through which the traveling yarn runs and wherein guides areprovided for insuring proper lace-up of the apparatus and for causingthe yarn to return to its proper course through the passageway should itbecome accidentally displaced therefrom.

(2) Description of the prior art The manufacture of artificial yarnssuch as acetate, rayon, nylon, polyester, etc. basically involvesextruding a filament forming composition through a downwardly directedspinneret or jet and at some point below the spinneret collecting theextruded product, which is usually in the form of a multiplicity of veryfine filaments, on a suitable collecting device such as a bobbin or thelike. Sometimes the filaments are twisted together during collectionand. sometimes not. Since the extrusion takes place continuously and thecollecting operation must be interrupted from time to time, as when afully wound bobbin is replaced by an empty one, a godet is generallyprovided between the spinneret and the bobbin whereby the yarn passesonce or a few times around the godet on the way to the bobbin during thewinding of the yarn onto the bobbin and is permitted to wind around andbuild up on the godet during dotting or changing of the bobbin. Thegodet may be employed to impart a jet stretch to the filaments or mayserve merely to forward the filament bundle and as a temporarycollecting device during doffing of the bobbin. Between the godet andthe bobbin, the filament bundle or yarn is often subjected to atreatment of some sort to change a physical or chemical characteristicthereof. For example, the strand may be subjected to a blast of air tocause the filaments to become entangled whereby the strand acquires acoherency or integrity which enables it to be subsequently handled inthe manner of a twisted yarn, without in fact being twisted. Thisentanglement treatment or others involving the use of an air or steamblast is generally carried out while the strand is passinglongitudinally through a tube-like passageway. Often the passageway hascommunicating therewith a lacing slot to facilitate the introduction ofthe strand into the passageway. It will be understood that the strandbecomes disassociated with the treating apparatus each time the bobbinis changed and while the strand is winding up on the godet.

The usual procedure when changing bobbins is for the 3,396,442 PatentedAug. 13, 1968 ice operator to capture a loop of yarn from the godet andconnect the loop to the rotating bobbin whereupon that portion of theloop being fed from the godet begins to wind onto the bobbin and thatportion of the loop extending back to the godet is broken. When a yarntreating device in the form of a tube-like passage having a lacing slotis employed between the godet and the bobbin, that portion of the yarnloop being fed toward the bobbin by the godet is usually supported by atemporary guide until such time as the yarn begins to wind up on thebobbin whereupon the operator lifts the running yarn from the temporaryguide and places it in the lacing slot from whence it is drawn down intothe treating passageway due to the tension imposed by the bobbin.Particularly when the yarn is of low denier the running strand is hardto see and some times the operator forgets to lift it into the lacingslot before going on to change the next bobbin. Furthermore,particularly when the treatment involves the use of air under pressure,the yarn is sometimes blown out through the lacing slot and thencontinues to wind onto the bobbin without being properly treated untilsuch time as an operator manually reinserts it into the lacing slot andsince the running yarn is hard to see, this accidental displacement isapt not to be noticed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention assures that the yarn isproperly laced through the yarn treating passageway at all times whileit is being collected on the bobbin or the like.

It is an object of this invention to provide a yarn treating apparatuswhich includes a yarn treating passageway having a lacing slotcommunicating therewith with an improved guide means which assures thatthe yarn is proprely laced through the treating passageway and whichcauses the yarn to automatically return to the passageway should itbecome accidentally displaced therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to provide a yarn treating systemwhich includes a godet for delivering yarn to a windup apparatus and ayarn treating device between the godet and the windup apparatus with animproved means for assuring that the yarn is properly laced through theyarn treating device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an isometric view showing themanner of leading a running yarn from a godet to a collecting bobbin andlacing the yarn through a treating device located between the godet andthe bobbin;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view showing in a full line the normal pathof the yarn through the treating device and in a dotted line the path ofthe yarn during the start up of an operation; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line IlI--III of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The yarn treating device chosento illustrate the invention is a tangler indicated generally at 10. Thepurpose of the tangler is to cause the filaments of the yarn passingtherethrough to become interlaced or intertwined or tangled together sothat after the treatment the filaments are no readily separated and theyarn may be used for weaving, knitting or the like without the necessityof a twisting operation. However, it is to be understood that theinvention is also applicable to other yarn treating devices which have astructure somewhat similar to the illustrated tangler but which impartsome treatment other than tangling.

As illustrated, the tangler 10 comprises two main members 12 and 14having a thin shim 16 located therebetween and held together by a bolt18 or the like. Member 12 has an open-sided tube-like passageway 20therethrough through which the yarn strand 22 runs during the normaltreating operation. The shim 16 extends from the bottom of the device upto a point even with the lower edge of the open side of passageway 20whereby the space between the two members 12 and 14 above the passagewayserves as a lacing slot 24 by means of which the yarn may be readilylaced through passageway 20 without having to be threaded endwisetherethrough. Connected to a bore in member 14 is a compressed airconduit 26 from which air is discharged into a passage 28 which has oneor more small openings 30 aligned with the yarn treating passageway 20.It is the action of the air discharged through openings 30 which causesthe entanglement of the filaments of the yarn. It is apparent that thetwo body members 12 and 14 and the shim 16 may be integrally formed ifdesired and in the following claims such parts are referred tocollectively as the main body of the yarn treating device or apparatus.

As best seen in FIG. 1, the top face 31 of the yarn treating device issubstantially flat and the lacing slot 24 opens through this flat face.At one end of slot 24 an upwardly directed ledge 32 is provided and thisledge has a groove 34 in the top edge thereof. Ledge 32 extendstransversely of slot 24 and terminates immediately adjacent said slot.Aligned with ledge 32 on the opposite side of the slot is a second ledge36 having a groove 38 in the top edge thereof.

At the opposite end of the device from ledge 32 and on the same side oflacing slot 24 as the ledge, a projection 40 is provided. Projection 40is higher than ledge 32 and is partially aligned with the groove 34longitudinally of the lacing slot. Projection 40 extends transversely ofthe lacing slot and terminates with the end closest to the lacing slotremoved from the lacing slot. Aligned with projection 40 is a secondprojection 42. Projection 42 is on the opposite side of the lacing slotfrom projection 40 and one end of projection 42 is in immediateproximity to the lacing slot.

Secured to the bottom of yarn treating device is a plate 44 which has anupturned end portion 46 provided with a yarn guiding notch 48. In use,the yarn treating device is mounted by means not shown so that the yarntreating passageway is coaxial with a line extending through the bottomof guide notch 48 and tangential with a yarn delivering godet 50, sucharrangement being best shown in FIG. 2.

As previously alluded to, in the manufacture of artificial filamentyarn, the newly extruded bundle of filaments usually wind around a godetbefore being taken up on a bobbin or like collecting device. It is thisgodet which is indicated at 50 and the bobbin is mounted for rotationwith a spindle 52 which moves up and down within a cap and ring assemblyindicated in FIG. 1 at 54 whereby the yarn is traversed up and down thebobbin during collection. The bobbin rests on a collar 56 secured to thespindle and a lacing thong or the like 58 is secured to the underside ofthe collar. As mentioned, during changing of the bobbin the yarn windsup on the godet. When it is desired to start the yarn winding onto afresh bobbin, the operator, either with a finger or a notched stick orthe like 60, captures a loop of yarn from the godet and leads the loopto the lacing thong 58 whereby the yarn running away from the godetbegins to wind onto the bobbin and the yarn running back to the godetbecomes broken due to the fact that the bobbin is pulling it in onedirection and the godet in the other. This operation is rather difficultto describe in detail to the uninitiated but is fully understood bythose working in the art to which the present invention pertains. Inleading the captured yarn loop toward the lacing thong, the operatormanipulates the loop so that that portion of the loop which is runningaway from the godet runs on top of projection 40, through the groove 34and guide notch 48. That portion of the loop running back to the godetis caused to run through guide notch 48, groove 38 and over theprojection 42. Thus, one portion of the yarn loop is on one side oflacing slot 24 and the other portion is on the other side of the lacingslot. As soon as the yarn is connected to the bobbin, the tensionimposed on that portion of the loop running back to the godet causes abreak in that portion of the yarn. At this time, the yarn running fromthe godet and toward the bobbin is riding, as best shown in dotted linein FIG. 2, over the projection 40 and through the groove 34. Theballooning action of the yarn as it winds onto the bobbin causes it toslip olf of projection 40 and onto the flat upper face 31 of the yarntreating device adjacent said projection. As the yarn moves across theupper face of the treating device, it cannot cross the lacing slot 24because in attempting to do so it contacts the end of projection 42.When the yarn moves to a position of alignment with lacing slot 24, thetension on the yarn causes it to be drawn down through the lacing slotand this action also dislodges the yarn from groove 34 and pulls thatportion of the yarn into the lacing slot. From the lacing slot the yarnmoves into the treating passageway 20, the sideways movement intopassageway 20 being caused by the position of guide notch 48 in coaxialalignment with the passageway.

Thus, the above described arrangement provides means for temporarilyguiding the yarn in proximity to a yarn treating device during thestart-up of a new bobbin but unlike previously known arrangements it isnot necessary for the operator to take any action to lace the yarnthrough the treating device after connecting the yarn to the bobbin.

When the treatment imparted to the yarn involves an air jet, itsometimes may happen that the yarn is blown out of the passageway 20 andthrough the lacing slot 24 but with the present guide arrangement theyarn returns immediately to its proper position without the attention ofan operator. As previously mentioned, the running yarn is often hard tosee and thus it will be appreciated that it is highly desirable to havean arrangement which assures that the yarn is properly laced through thetreating device.

The guide groove 38 for guiding the yarn running back toward the godetprevents that portion of the yarn from accidentally entering the lacingslot during connection of the yarn to a fresh bobbin. During thestart-up of a fresh bobbin, if both portions of the yarn loop get intothe lacing slot or the treating passageway 20, it most often happensthat both portions of the yarn will break thereby requiring the operatorto go through the starting up operation again.

Having thus described a preferred embodiment of the invention, what isclaimed is:

1. Yarn treating apparatus comprising a main body having a yarn treatingpassageway extending therethrough, said main body having a substantiallyflat face, a lacing slot opening through said flat face andcommunicating with said yarn treating passageway, and a pair of lacingguides on said flat face at opposite ends of said lacing slot.

2. The apparatus set forth in claim 1 wherein one of said lacing guidescomprises a groove provided in a ledge extending outwardly from the flatface of said main body, and the other of said guides comprises aprojection extending from said flat face and spaced from said lacingslot.

3. The apparatus set forth in claim 2 wherein said projection is alignedwith said groove and is higher than said ledge.

4. The apparatus set forth in claim 1 wherein one of said lacing guidescomprises a groove provided in a ledge extending outwardly from saidflat face transversely of said lacing slot and terminating immediatelyadjacent said lacing slot, and the other of said lacing guidescomprising a projection extending outwardly from said fiat facetransversely of said lacing slot and terminating with the end closest tosaid lacing slot removed from said lacing slot.

5. The apparatus set forth in claim 4 comprising a second projectionaligned with said first mentioned projection, said second projectionbeing in immediated proximity to said lacing slot and on the oppositeside of said lacing slot from said first mentioned projection.

6. In a yarn treating system comprising a godet for delivering yarn to awindup apparatus, a guide in the path of the yarn between the godet andthe windup apparatus for changing the direction of movement of the yarn,and a yarn treating device between the godet and the guide; theimprovement comprising said yarn treating device having a yarnaccommodating passageway extending therethrough, said passageway beingcoaxial with a line extending through said guide and tangential to saidgodet whereby the yarn may travel through said passageway in asubstantially straight line between the godet and the guide, an upwardlydirected lacing slot extending through said yarn treating device andcommunicating with said passageway, said yarn treating device having asubstantially fiat upper face, lacing guides on said upper face atopposite ends of said lacing slot for guiding the yarn during lacing-upoperations, said lacing guides causing the yarn to be displaced from theaforementioned straight line, and said lacing guides being constructedand arranged to permit the yarn to be pulled into said lacing slot bythe windup apparatus when the windup apparatus places tension on theyarn at the end of a lacing-up operation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,938,257 5/1960 Bauer 28l3,261,071 7/1966 Clendening et a1. 28-1 3,333,313 8/1967 Gilmore et a128-1 LOUIS K. RIMRODT, Primary Examiner.

